The Original film has EVERYTHING that is lacking in all subsequent films, except Empire...

So tonight, I saw that Star Wars was on TV. Excuse me, Star Wars: Episode 4- A New Hope. I was just shy of my 7th Birthday when I first saw it, and it was just STAR WARS.

It is STILL the best action adventure, set somewhere else, Somewhere fantastical, EVER MADE. Maybe it is dumb luck, and good casting, maybe it is that dent in C3PO’s Head, and the fact that rust still exists in an interplanetary future/past, but, it is so simply and firmly set and planted in a galaxy far far away. It hits every story beat, while introducing you to a universe that feels lived in, feels real, and is populated by characters that you like, or dislike, or fear.

Before you ever meet Luke you are drawn into a galactic conflict by the android equivalent of Shakespeare’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Then You meet Obi Wan and the 7 foot tall Dog…and it is not merely fantastical, it feels real, dramatically more real than most attempts at cinematic fantastical, because it doesn’t over reach… It isn’t trying to be fantastical. It is succeeding at making the fantastical appear pedestrian. That is the most fantastical thing it could hope to accomplish!

And The story itself is huge, it’s a series of vignettes, by the time rescuing the princess and escaping the Death Star becomes the center piece, there is still the final act ahead.

Maybe it is because I was 6 years and 11 months old in that theater, but I don’t think so. It’s the dent in C3POs head, It’s the 7 foot tall dog, it’s the implied back story, casting shadows, that didn’t need to be dragged in to clarity. It caught lightening in a bottle. BTW, I could spot The destructive CGI additions, this Still wasn’t MY Star WARS.

Reading the OP gave me the first genuine yearning to look at Star Wars (excluding Rogue One of course) in months.

I was about the same age when I first saw it.

I think you put it quite succinctly when you say that the film makes the fantastical seem pedestrian. The characters dont react to those things we find astonishing. It lends itself to the whole ‘used universe’ aesthetic Lucas was going for.

Even when Ben introduces Luke to the lightsaber, you dont see Luke reacting with amazement. He takes it, looks at it with brief curiosity; his hand resting right where you might expect an ergonomically placed switch to be and he activates the lightsaber naturally. No big reactions. Ben does the talking. He says its the weapon of the Jedi. Its his fathers weapon and Luke does not speak of the lightsaber but his attention goes immediately to his father…to the story. In this world of amazing imagery its still at its core an intimate story. It becomes bigger as the story continues but it allows the viewer a chance to settle in.

They walk into the creature cantina and it is a spectacle of alien races of all types. At the bar, Ben is already engaged in a conversation with the Giant Dog. There is no big entrance of the Giant Dog. He’s just there among a host of other odd looking creatures. He’s not chained. He’s not in some cage that they have to break him out of. Your introduction to him is not a cheap showcase of incredible strength.

Yet there are parts of the film where its fantastical nature is on full display. The opening scene with the Star Destroyer is all pomp and circumstance.

I have no idea how Lucas managed to keep the fantastical and subdued in proper balance but he did. It is either intentionally or unintentionally a well executed piece of cinema.

Welcome, Dan. Most of us here feel a lot like you. Great community here, and I hope you will come to feel the same way.